Box construction



'f maf@ -ns ATTORNEYS l Feb-16,1943. l

Filed' April 22,- 1940 ,2u r l M E m N E A d; rumlw L f 4 n n n g L l .PIII lli/ m/ Patented Feb. 16, 1943 l UNiTED sra'rasearemr orifice 2,311,053 BOX CONSTRUCTION william H. Inman, Newark, N. Y., assigner to Bloomer Bros. Company, Newark, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application April 22, 1940, Serial No. 330,920

3 Claims.

My invention relates to boxes or cartons adapted to be made of paper board or analogous materials.

A problem in the packing of cigarettes in boxes v I the boxes or cartons resealed by the wholesaler or other dealer in cigarettes. With the present carton constructions employed, after the seal is broken, either at least some of the packages of cigarettes must be removed from the carton to permit application of the stamps to the packages without tearing the carton itself, or the carton must be torn to permit the application of the The boxes or cartons are shipped by i stamps to the packages while they are in the f carton. The former course increases materially the cost of applying the stamps, while the latter results in an unsightly package when the carton is resealed.

An object of my invention is to provide a box or carton adapted to be easily opened for access to its contents and effectively resealed` and having a simple construction inexpensive to manufacture.

Another object of my invention is to provide a box or carton, particularly for use in connection with the packaging of cigarettes, wherein the seal may be broken, the carton opened, tax stamps applied to the individual cigarette packages without removing the packages from the carton, and

the carton resealed without mutilating the carton.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be pointed out in the claims and will be apparent from the following description, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is an end elevation of the carton of my invention as it appears when received from the cigarette manufacturer;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary top plan View thereof;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the blank from which the carton is made;

Fig. 5 is an end elevation showing how the carton is broken open to enable access to the packages of cigarettes for the purpose of applyF ing tax stamps thereto;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation with the parts in the position shown in Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is an end elevation showing the carton as the parts are arranged when the carton is resealed; and Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the carton with the parts in the position shown in Fig. 7. Y

While I will describe the structure of my novel box or carton in connection with its use for holding packaged cigarettes, it Will be appreciated that the principles thereof may be applied to boxes or cartons for othery purposes. from which the box is made, as shown in Fig. 4,

lcomprises a sheet of paper board, or other suitable material, which is cut, scored and folded to form the box shown in Figs. l, 2 and 3.

The blank is scored along parallel lines I l, l2, I3, and It, properly spaced from each other in accordance with the size of carton desired, to provide a front wall I6, a bottom wall il, a rear wall I8, a top I3, and a flap 2|. The blank is also scored along lines 22 to provide, on opposite sides of the blank, endwalls 23, aps 24 and flaps 26. In the end walls 23 there are provided score lines 2'! arranged to form flaps 28.

The naps 26 have their inner surfaces'covered with a suitable adhesive to enable them to be secured to the outer surfaces of the end walls 23. A line of adhesive is applied preferably along the inner surface of the edge of the front wall, as shown at 33. The adhesive may be of non-tacky character, in which case it may be applied to the blank during the course of its manufacture, or a tacky glue may be applied as the box is erected. The glue line 33 is preferably applied after the packages of cigarettes are in the box so that the box, after packing, may be properly sealed.

Each of the flaps 24 has a line of severance, generally indicated by the numeral 3|, dividing each of the flaps into flap parts 32 and 33. Each line of severance comprises a diagonal line of perforations Y31|., a slit 35, and a line of perforations 36. To the inner surface of each of the flap parts 32 adhesive is applied, preferably when the box is ready to be packed, for a purpose which will later appear. The ends of the ap parts 33 are preferably rounded, as shown at 31.

After the blank has been cut and scored, as shown and described, it is folded into box form, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the flaps 26 being brought into juxtaposition with the end walls 23 and sealed thereagainst. The aps 24 are brought into the position shown in Fig. 1, and the flap parts 32 sealed against the end Walls with 'the unsealed ends 31 ofthe flap parts 33 overlapping the sealed flaps 26, as shown in Fig. 3. The conventional practice is to provide a box of such dimensions as to receive ten vpackages of The blank cigarettes arranged in two tiers. If desired the packages may be arranged or stacked on the bottom of the blank when the blank is in a flat unfolded condition, as shown in Fig. 4. Then by suitable machinery the carton may be folded and sealed around the packages of cigarettes. However, if desired, the carton may be lled when in an erected condition with the cover open. After the carton has been filled the flap 2|, which is contiguous to the front wall of the box, is sealed thereagainst on the inside thereof so as to close and seal the carton.

It will be noted from Figs. 1 and 3 that Jthe aps 26 are sealed against the end walls 2,3 before the flaps 24 are sealed in position so that the ends 3'| of the flap parts 33 will overlap the outer surfaces of the fiaps 26. With the carton in this sealed condition the cartons may be packed in a case and shipped to wholesalers or dealers in cigarettes.

A number of states have sales taxes on cigarettes, and this is also true of some cities. Some of these tax laws require the application of stamps to the packages to show that the tax has been paid. The tax stamps are usually purchased by the wholesaler or other dealer in cigarettes, who applies the stamps thereto. With the conventional cartons now employed in packaging cigarettes, it is necessary for the dealer to rip open the cartons of cigarettes, breaking not only the seals but also the cartons themselves, apply the stamps to the packages, and attempt to reseal the cartons by a rather makeshift arrangement which leaves gaps at the ends of the carton and renders the cartons rather unsightly. The alternative to tearing the carton itself is to break the seal and remove at least part of the cigarette packages from the carton, apply the stamps, and then reseal the carton. This latter procedure does not mutilate the carton, but is rather inconvenient and expensive and is consequently not usually employed.

With my carton the parts thereof, after the seal is broken, may be shifted to the position shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the stamps applied, and the carton resealed without rendering the carton unsightly. This is accomplished, after the seal formed by the line of gluing 3U is broken, by inserting the fingers between the ends 31 of the iiap parts 33 and the flaps 26, and ripping the ap parts 33 away from the sealed flap parts 32 along the lines of severance 3|. This permits the front wall I6 of the carton to swing about the fold line I I to a position in a common plane with the bottom II. The cover is then raised to the position shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The stamps Y 4| may be then applied to the ends of the packages, without removing the packages from the carton, as the ends of all ten packages of cigarettes are exposed and readily accessible.

After the stamps have been applied, the carton may be reassembled by shifting the front wall about the fold line and inserting the ap parts 33 on the inside of the end walls 23 and in a position underlying the aps 28. The cover may then be closed so as to hold the flap parts 23 and 33 in position. The cover flap 2| is again inserted within the front wall I6 so as to hold the cover closed and further support the rear and end walls in position, as shown in Figs, 7 and 8. A sealing strip 4,2 may be then applied preferably between the front wall and the cover, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, s o as to hold. the cover. in closed position andthe carton sealed.

It will be appreciated that, when the box isy constructed as shown and described that the carton may be quickly unsealed, the stamps applied, and resealed without removing the packages of cigarettes from the carton, and without mutilating or otherwise rendering the carton unsightly.

While I have shown one way of constructing the carton so as to permit the convenient application of stamps to the packages of cigarettes, it will be appreciated that various changes and modifications may be made therein, particularly in the form and relation of parts without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A one-piece, cardboard blank for a carton, cut and scored for folding to form a front wall, a bottom, a rear wall, a cover and a cover securing flap, in said order from edge to edge of said blank, said bottom having flaps at the ends thereof for folding to form the end walls of the carton, said bottom flaps having tabs at their outer ends for folding inwardly of the carton toward each other, said rear wall having end flaps for folding over said end walls and provided With adhesive for attachment thereto, and said front wall being provided with end flaps for folding over said end wall and each formed with a weakened tear line dividing the same into at least two sections, one of said sections adjacent the lower rear corner of such end flap being provided with adhesive for securing the same to the adjacent end wall and the other of said sections remaining permanently attached to said front wall and having a freely projecting portion adjacent the upper rear corner of such end iiap adapted to be gripped and pulled, in the erected condition of the blank, for separating said sections and freeing said front wall for opening movement.

2. A cardboard carton formed of a one-piece blank, cut, scored, and folded to provide a front wall, a bottom, a rear Wall, a cover and a cover securing flap, said bottom having end flaps folded to form end walls and provided with end tabs folded inwardly of said carton toward each other, said rear wall having end aps folded over and adhesively secured to said end walls, said front wall having end flaps folded over said end walls and each formed with a weakened tear line dividing the same into at least two sections, one of said sections being adhesively secured to the adjacent end wall, the other of said sections including the upper portion of the end fiap from which it is formed and being connected directly to said front wall and being provided with a freely projecting portion adapted to be gripped and pulled to separate said sections and free said front wall, said other sections, after said separation, being shaped and arranged for insertion inside said end walls and tabs and with said cover ap inserted inside said front wall for resealing said carton and having lengths from the front wall rearwardly approximately as great as the height of the frontwall, to provide substantial anchorage for holding saidV front wall in closed position after opening and reclosing thereof.

3. A cardboard carton formed of a one-piece lank, cut, scored, and folded to provide a front wall, a bottom, a rear wall, a cover and a cover securing ap, said cover flap having a rupturable adhesive attachment to said front wall, said bottom having end flaps folded to form end walls and provided with end tabs folded inwardly of said carton along the underside of said cover, said rear Wall having end flaps folded over and adhesively secured to said end walls, said front Wall having end flaps folded over said end Walls and each formed with a weakened tear line di viding the same into at least tWo sections, one of said sections lying substantially below the top edge of such end flap and Vbeing adhesively secured to the adjacent end wall, the other of said sections including substantially the full length of the upper edge of such end ap and being permanently connected to said front Wall and being provided with a portion adapted to be gripped and pulled to separate said sections along said tear line and free said front Wall, after detachment from said cover flap, for unfolding substantially into the plane of said bottom to accessibly expose the contents of said carton, said other sections, after said separation, being shaped and arranged for insertion inside said end'walls and tabs and with said cover flap in- 10 serted inside said front Wall for resealing said carton.

WILLIAM H. INMAN. 

